What’s new: An Asian subsidiary of U.S. billionaire Ken Griffin’s hedge fund titan Citadel LLC is seeking to tap into the Chinese mainland, home to one of the world’s largest capital markets, through the Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (QFII) program.
The subsidiary’s QFII application was received and accepted by the China Securities Regulatory Commission on Friday, the watchdog’s website shows.
Miami-based Citadel became the most profitable hedge fund by raking in a record $16 billion in profits for investors last year, according to estimates by hedge-fund investor LCH Investments NV.
The background: China launched the QFII program in 2002, allowing eligible foreign institutional investors to trade in the country’s stock and bond markets under certain quotas. The quota limit was scrapped in May 2020.
In a major overhaul later that year, regulators combined regulations for QFII and its yuan-denominated sibling, the Renminbi Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (RQFII) program, while expanding the scope of investment.
As recently as September 2022, the country made dozens of commodity derivatives available to QFII and RQFII investors, in a push to lure foreign capital to its nascent derivatives market.
Related: China Further Opens Commodity Derivatives Market to Foreign Institutions
Contact reporter Zhang Ziyu (ziyuzhang@caixin.com) and editors Bertrand Teo (bertrandteo@caixin.com) and Lin Jinbing (jinbinglin@caixin.com)
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